The good news for the four teams still in the running is that nobody's been eliminated, per NBA.com's David Aldridge:

Obviously, the allure of playing for a franchise like Los Angeles would be tempting for any player, regardless of how bad the Lakers were last year.

In addition, if you put a star as good as Anthony on L.A., then it papers over a lot of the on-court cracks.

Signing Melo might also lead to Pau Gasol staying with the Lakers, according to Aldridge:

Indirectly, Anthony’s decision impacts another significant free agent—Pau Gasol, who was scheduled to meet with Riley in Los Angeles. The Lakers’ hopes of keeping Gasol are centered on first getting Anthony, who would then, hopefully, entice Gasol to stay in L.A. rather than follow Riley back to South Beach, or to San Antonio or Oklahoma City—both of which harbor strong and real hopes they can get Gasol to take a huge pay cut to play for a contender.

That's what the Knicks look to be up against.

Working in New York's favor, of course, is that it can offer Anthony a five-year, $129 million deal, which is one year and $30 million more than anybody else can offer. Much has been said about how this summer's free agents might take less money to play for a contender, but turning down $30 million would be hard for anyone to do.

The Knicks have undoubtedly been a black hole on the court over the last year; however, the franchise's fortunes do look to be changing for the better. New York actually traded into the second round of the draft and proceeded to nail both the Cleanthony Early and Thanasis Antetokounmpo picks.

Phil Jackson remains a bit of an unknown in terms of his ability to build a team, but the early signs are promising.

All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony probed New York Knicks management on the franchise's plan to restore a contending roster and left his final free-agency meeting largely aligned with president Phil Jackson's vision, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Wojnarowski quoted a source as saying, "He just wants to feel like he's not all alone on the court."

For those still wondering why Anthony would consider New York as his No. 1 destination, you only need to look at the degree of difficulty in the respective conferences.

Home-court advantage in the opening rounds might even be a bridge too far.

New York, on the other hand, offers a little more security. As long as the Knicks get their stuff together, they could easily be a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference, with only the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat and maybe the Indiana Pacers as their toughest competition.

More money and possibly a better chance to win games? Doesn't seem all that crazy.